DOT calls for speed limit changes on Higby Road

FRANKFORT — Motorists traveling Higby Road between Frankfort and Utica can expect to see new speed limit signs along the road in the near future.

The New York State Department of Transportation has notified Herkimer County Highway Superintendent Mark Nagele by letter that a speed limit study on Higby Road had been completed and the DOT will recommend speed limit reductions.

Nagele said Wednesday he had received the letter from DOT and would review it. He added the DOT would follow up the letter with an order outlining its recommendations.

With Higby being a county road, the county will install the signs as directed, he said. He did not know how soon the county could expect to receive the order from DOT.

The county is also looking to place centerline audible roadway delineators on Higby Road.

“It’s not the road that’s the problem; it’s the people driving that road,” Brezinski said.

The letter from Regional Traffic Engineer Linda Lubey states the study, conducted at the request of the town of Frankfort, divided the 7.1 miles of Higby Road from the Oneida-Herkimer County line to the Route 5S/Higby Road/Cemetery Street interchange into four segments and collected speed data, accident history, traffic volumes and roadway information from each section.

“Our study indicated that portions of the Herkimer County sections of Higby Road are less forgiving than other portions along the same corridor, particularly during inclement weather,” according to Lubey. “Roadway curvature — both horizontal and vertical — narrow shoulders and development density vary from segment. Typically, this situation would affect driver behavior as it relates to speed. In this particular case, data indicated that speeds were maintained at or near 60 miles per hour in each segment despite the changing physical conditions of the roadway.”

She said the study showed this portion of Higby Road “is not typical of a 55 mph highway and efforts to alert motorists to that fact is a critical component to increasing safety on this roadway.”

The DOT is recommending speed limits be lowered from 55 to 45 in two sections, from 55 to 50 in another and the 30 mph speed limit at Cemetery Street be extended to the west side of the Route 5S/Higby Road/Cemetery Street interchange.

Lubey said once the required notice of order is finalized and approved by the secretary of state, copies will be forwarded to the county highway department and the county will be responsible for the placement of the new signs. The orders will be in effect once the signs are in place.

She also comments that it is the DOT’s understanding that centerline audible roadway delineators will be incorporated in the 2018 resurfacing project.

“The implementation of C.A.R.D.S. and the recommendations will enhance safety of this corridor, particularly during inclement weather,” she said.

FRANKFORT — Motorists traveling Higby Road between Frankfort and Utica can expect to see new speed limit signs along the road in the near future.

The New York State Department of Transportation has notified Herkimer County Highway Superintendent Mark Nagele by letter that a speed limit study on Higby Road had been completed and the DOT will recommend speed limit reductions.

Nagele said Wednesday he had received the letter from DOT and would review it. He added the DOT would follow up the letter with an order outlining its recommendations.

With Higby being a county road, the county will install the signs as directed, he said. He did not know how soon the county could expect to receive the order from DOT.

The county is also looking to place centerline audible roadway delineators on Higby Road.

“It’s not the road that’s the problem; it’s the people driving that road,” Brezinski said.

The letter from Regional Traffic Engineer Linda Lubey states the study, conducted at the request of the town of Frankfort, divided the 7.1 miles of Higby Road from the Oneida-Herkimer County line to the Route 5S/Higby Road/Cemetery Street interchange into four segments and collected speed data, accident history, traffic volumes and roadway information from each section.

“Our study indicated that portions of the Herkimer County sections of Higby Road are less forgiving than other portions along the same corridor, particularly during inclement weather,” according to Lubey. “Roadway curvature — both horizontal and vertical — narrow shoulders and development density vary from segment. Typically, this situation would affect driver behavior as it relates to speed. In this particular case, data indicated that speeds were maintained at or near 60 miles per hour in each segment despite the changing physical conditions of the roadway.”

She said the study showed this portion of Higby Road “is not typical of a 55 mph highway and efforts to alert motorists to that fact is a critical component to increasing safety on this roadway.”

The DOT is recommending speed limits be lowered from 55 to 45 in two sections, from 55 to 50 in another and the 30 mph speed limit at Cemetery Street be extended to the west side of the Route 5S/Higby Road/Cemetery Street interchange.

Lubey said once the required notice of order is finalized and approved by the secretary of state, copies will be forwarded to the county highway department and the county will be responsible for the placement of the new signs. The orders will be in effect once the signs are in place.

She also comments that it is the DOT’s understanding that centerline audible roadway delineators will be incorporated in the 2018 resurfacing project.

“The implementation of C.A.R.D.S. and the recommendations will enhance safety of this corridor, particularly during inclement weather,” she said.

AT A GLANCE

The state Department of Transportation is recommending the following for Higby Road:

The speed limit on the section of road between the Herkimer-Oneida County line and a point about 2/10 mile east of Albany Road should be reduced from 55 to 45 mph.

The speed limit between the point 2/10 mile east of Albany Road and the top of Coop Hill (approximately one mile west of the Route 5S interchange) should be reduced from 55 to 50 mph.

The speed limit between Coop Hill and the Route 5S/Higby Road/Cemetery Street interchange should be reduced from 55 to 45 mph.

The 30 mph speed limit at Cemetery Street should be extended to the west side of the Route 5S/Higby Road/Cemetery Street interchange.

“That’s a potential project for next year,” said Nagele.

A copy of the letter also went to county Legislator John Brezinski, who has been pushing for speed limit changes in response to multiple accidents on the road, some of them fatal, and concerns expressed by Higby Road residents.

“I’m very pleased and impressed with the way the DOT handled this, especially with the number of accidents and deaths that have occurred,” said Brezinski. “I’d like to compliment them. Now at least it will hopefully be a safer road to drive on.”

Once the signs are in place, enforcement by town of Frankfort police, as well as state police, is what will convince motorists to slow down, he said.